Montreal Canadiens add more depth trading for Jordan Weal
The Montreal Canadiens have kicked off their time on trade deadline day acquiring Jordan Weal from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for Michael Chaput.
The question ahead of Monday’s trade deadline was whether the Montreal Canadiens were going to stand pat with the roster they have or make a move to boost themselves. There was good enough reason to stick with what the Habs already had, but with other teams in the Eastern Conference strengthening themselves for the long haul, a trade would’ve been a good way to ensure the team didn’t fall behind. Marc Bergevin got started acquiring Jordan Weal from the Philadelphia Flyers.
The trade has Weal joining the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Michael Chaput. The Habs signed Chaput on July 1st signing him to a two-year contract. He initially started his season in the AHL with the Laval Rocket despite having a fairly strong performance at training camp.
He was eventually recalled to man the fourth line with Kenny Agostino and Nicolas Deslauriers used as a defensively responsible energy guy. The 26-year-old put up five assists in 32 games with the Montreal Canadiens and ten goals and six assists in 24 games in Laval. Chaput’s recent performance over the weekend helped the Rocket sweep their season series against the Manitoba Moose, and perhaps that made him an interesting name for depth ahead of the deadline.
Weal is being moved to his third time this season. He started out with the Philadelphia Flyers centering the third line scoring three goals and six assists in 28 games. Later on, he was traded to the Arizona Coyotes, and his offence has taken a greater dip only putting up one goal and one assist in 19 games.
Weal is a player that can produce in the minors but not so much in the NHL. That could make this trade one simply for the Laval Rocket though a call up is possible. What is a positive is his versatility as he can effectively play all three positions and his strong work on the forecheck.
He’s not the biggest player but that isn’t an issue in Montreal.
Next. The danger of standing pat. dark
It’ll be interesting to see what comes out of this. Weal could be an option to play on the fourth line at one of the two wing positions, but room is an issue at the moment.